page_title: The Beginning of the End (Lost)
section_title: Reception
hierarchical_section_title: The Beginning of the End (Lost) / Reception
caption_attribution_description: Jorge Garcia on the Lost panel at Wikipedia:Comic-Con International in San Diego, California
context_page_description: "The Beginning of the End" is the fourth season premiere, and 73rd episode overall, of the American Broadcasting Company's television drama series Lost. It was aired on ABC in the United States and CTV in Canada on January 31, 2008. Co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Carlton Cuse wrote the premiere in late July 2007, with most of the episode directed on location in Oahu, Hawaii, in August and September by executive producer Jack Bender. With this premiere, Jeff Pinkner no longer serves as an executive producer and staff writer. The episode was watched by 18 million Americans, bringing in the best ratings for Lost in 17 episodes. According to Metacritic, "The Beginning of the End" garnered "universal acclaim".
  The narrative takes place over 90 days after the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, on December 23, 2004. The stranded crash survivors make contact with associates of Naomi Dorrit on a nearby freighter, but the survivors divide when they hear that those on the freighter may not be coming to rescue the survivors. Flashforwards show the post-island lives of Hugo "Hurley" Reyes and Jack Shephard.
context_section_description: Don Williams of BuddyTV dubbed "The Beginning of the End" "the most anticipated season premiere of the year".  It was watched by approximately 16.137 million American viewers live or within six hours with a 6.7/17 in the key adults 18–49 demographic, bringing in the best Nielsen ratings for Lost in seventeen episodes and ranking Lost eighth in the weekly charts.  The episode was watched by a total of 17.766 million viewers live or recorded and watched within seven days of broadcast and this number went toward the year-end average.  In Canada, "The Beginning of the End" was seen by 1.855 million viewers, making Lost the sixth most watched program of the week.  It brought in an audience almost double the size of that of the previous episode and greater than any third-season episode, with the exception of the season premiere.  The fourth-season premiere was successful in the United Kingdom with 1.1 million viewers.  In Australia, Lost was the fifteenth most watched show of the night with 912 000 viewers, which was deemed disappointing by David Dale of The Sun-Herald.
  American critics were sent screener DVDs of "The Beginning of the End" and "Confirmed Dead" on January 28, 2008. Metacritic gave the episode a Metascore—a weighted average based on the impressions of a select twelve critical reviews—of 87.  Robert Bianco of USA Today wrote that "returning with a heart-stopping, perfectly pitched episode ... Lost is an oasis in a strike-parched TV desert."  Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times described "The Beginning of the End" as an "emotion-churning chemical dump right in the old brain stem—horror, hysteria, regret, adrenaline and what ... will happen next?"  Adam Buckman of the New York Post gave the episode four out of four stars.  Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune "blissfully enjoyed every minute" and noted that "there aren't any faults".  Diane Werts of Newsday raved the episode as "superb" and "insanely entertain[ing]" and concluded her review with "Lost seems to have found itself".  Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle declared that it and "Confirmed Dead" "are roller coasters of fast action and revelation [that are] good to see".  Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe pointed out that "Lost can still make the pulse race and the brain tingle ... [and] remains TV's most gripping serial".  Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger was unsure "if Lost is ever going to give satisfying answers to its many, many remaining mysteries ... but when it's as scary and hilarious and moving and exciting as these two episodes, I'm okay with that."  In less positive reviews, Rodney Ho of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution called it "a satisfactory return episode with a fair share of drama and pathos ... [that] provides just enough revelations to keep fans hungry for more" and David Hinckley of the Daily News rated the episode with three stars out of a possible five.
  Brian Lowry of Variety said that "Lost's return goes down like a welcome tonic as scripted TV fades to black ... providing an unusually generous array of juicy moments for the large (and, at times, neglected) cast."  Mark Medley of the National Post called it "a brilliant season premiere" with multiple "jaw-dropping moments".  Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly felt that the premiere was mind-blowing and featured good acting by Garcia.  Frazier Moore of the Associated Press wrote that "Lost is further upping the ante, and heightening the pressure on us as the show's vast mythology continues to metastasize."  Kristin Dos Santos of E! called it "so well written, produced, acted and directed it felt like a movie".  Michael Ausiello of TV Guide described it as "easily one of the best hours of TV so far this season."  Bruce Fretts of TV Guide responded well to Reddick's performance.  Chris Carabott of IGN gave the episode 9.1/10, stating that it was "a great start to what promises to be an exciting ... season 4.  The momentum and pacing is on par with last season's finale".  LTG of Television Without Pity graded it as an "A–".  Jon Lachonis of UGO gave the episode an "A+", calli
caption: E! commended Garcia's performance as "better than ever".[23]
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